Code Pink Journals CodePINK Journals

Work 4 Peace,Hold All Life Sacred,Eliminate Violence! This is my often neglected blog mostly about my travels across country in my mobile billboard truck as I attempt to engage in dialogue with people in hopes to wake us up and inspire action to change our country and communities and selves. And it is froth with my opinions, insights, analyses toward that end of holding all life sacred, dismantling the empire and eliminating violence while creating the society and life we want

Monday, January 15, 2007

Tucon Pink or The Amazing Nancy Hill

As I drive into Tucson and look for the corner I’m supposed to hook up with CodePINK women, there is Nancy Hill standing amongst a cacophony of hot pink in the frigid cold, fading daylight, smiling, waving, and giving all 4 lanes of traffic in 4 directions the peace symbol!

She is a one-womon flash of hot pink and positive Peace energy!

Liz has driven down from Phoenix to participate in this demo. Soon we are joined by several other women so we are now on 2 catty-corners. One womon’s sign reads: “Leave my child behind”.

Nancy has also brought the huge banner from the Raging Grannies “Bring our Troops Home NOW”. We are visible from every direction for blocks, I’m sure.

Like most places, we get tons of positive honks, waves, peace symbols – maybe “only” 2 fuck yous. I remember way back to almost the beginning and the intense white male testosterone rage that seemed to blanket this area. Now there’s just a meager handful lingering.

We meet afterwards at a coffee shop that Rae & I happened to stop by once years ago – where there was a middle-aged white man playing a guitar and singing “anybody but bush” songs in our honor!

Tonite is quiet – Nancy so generously treats me to dinner and then takes me to her lovely home with her. I’ll get a good nite’s sleep and then off to my first “Peace-In” stop in Las Cruces New Mexico for noon. I’ll leave here by 6:00a.m.

We make terrible Iraqis!

I pull off the highway, drawn by the billboard announcing cheap diesel, and tried to pull into a traveling j travel plaza along with half the folks traveling today.

There is a long line, reminiscent of the gas wars in the 70’s – has it been that long since I’ve waited in line for more than 4 minutes for gas?

Beefy white men in RV’s, SUV’s, and those huge $60,000 dollar trucks are jostling for a better position. Tempers are flaring and men are shouting as they accuse each other of cheating to get gas quicker.

I am next to a group of 4 or 5 that are pissed at one of them who has come in the wrong way and jumped the line. I tell them they’d make terrible Iraqis. That shuts them up and gives them a common focus – me!

I tell them people in Iraq often wait for days in line to get a few gallons of gas.

“Why is that?” one of the older men ask.

“Yeah,” I say, “Why the hell is that? Iraq has the 2nd largest oil reserves in the world and people have no fuel, maybe an hour or 2 of electricity every day, and they take their lives in their hands just to be at a gas station.”

The men appear a little ashamed and head off to their vehicles without saying another word.

Arizona - first stop Phoenix!

It is just warm enough to sleep comfortably in the truck – my windshield doesn’t fog up totally and I see no evidence of frost although it is frigid outside. Yesterday, the puddles of water hanging around the base of trees in the orange orchards were FROZEN! I was shocked to see it, but true.

Last night, I pulled into the rest stop just after a huge sliver of the moon began rising over the dark horizon. I spent a few hours at a rest stop outside of Palm Springs and then continued to the Arizona border.

Crossing into Arizona, the positive energy continues to follow me and I am further fortified that the people of this country will not allow this war to continue, will not allow our congress to ignore our wishes, will not allow our president to continue as our dictator.

My first stop is Phoenix, meeting up with Liz and other CodePINKers, at the Air America radio station, taking a moment to honor Martin Luther King and his amazing life, work and words.

About Me

i'm now a 66 yr old (still with a golden age pass to get into national parks FREE) jewish lesbian anti-racist mother - and grandmother - striving radical womonist/feminist; daughter & granddaughter of survivors of the holocaust, mother of a young amazon healer & amazing human being, lover of wimmin & student of conscious living............even tho i am the one actually driving the truck, i could not even head out from home if it were not for the support of many, many, many wimmin (and several men as well). i am now working on trying to publish my book "But What Can I Do? A Handbook for change: myself, my community, my country. I still continue to offer Racism Awareness workshops geared for White people, NO DRONES workshops, and any other that is needed. if you want to help support this journey, please click the "Make a Donation" link below- it's secure!